By Gillcraft

How to get down to it

Stalking is usually associated with the wilds, with big game hunting, and
sometimes with deer stalking in parts of our own country. But it is not
necessary to have something very large to stalk, one can get a lot of good fun
and practice out of stalking a dog or a cat at times. Certainly there is as
much, or more, satisfaction to be got out of a good stalk for its own sake, as
out of the wounding, killing, or capturing of any kind of wild animal. I have
tried both and I know. The Chief Scout says in Scouting for
Boys: " Every
animal is interesting to watch, and it is just as difficult to stalk a weasel as
it is to stalk a lion."

The ability to stalk does not come naturally; it must be acquired at the
expense of much practice and the cost of many abrasions and scratches. I have
already indicated something of what is required ir) the way of observation. Color, just a spot of it, movement, just a flick of the ear, sound, just a
tinkle of a hoof on gravel, are the indications which help you to locate the
quarry. The acquisition of this knowledge of what to look for demands considerable observation and practice.

Then it is necessary to know something about the ways of your particular
quarry. It is always a mistake to underestimate one's opponent. How and where
does it feed? What precautions does it take to guard against surprise? How
quick is it to take alarm? What sort of places does it frequent? What kind of
cover does it go to? How does it get there? And, when you have observed,
comprehended and analyzed all that, and more, then you must consider how you are
going to solve the whole problem of getting right close up to it.

So it is not such an easy matter as some would have its imagine, and because
it is not so easy, there is all the more fun and enjoyment to be got out of it.

All the time, if you are up against another Scout or a large animal, you may
be being stalked in your turn and be in blissful ignorance of the fact. In the
diary of an uncle of mine I came across this confession:

There were lots of tracks of bears on the soft ground and mud, and I
was eagerly looking out for a shot. I retraced my own track, after a short
interval of some ten or fifteen minutes. There, on the top of my own foot
tracks, was the fresh trail of a bear, which had apparently followed me along
for a considerable distance, but though I had crept stealthily along, watching
for a chance, I never got a glimpse of him.

"Stealthily" was a good word to use because it so exactly
describes the mode of progress that should be adopted in stalking. The actual
method, walking, crawling, slithering, varies according to the distance you are
from your quarry and the kind of country you are moving through, but all the
time you must use cunning and move stealthily.

Firstly, mention should be made of the "cautious approach," which
merely consists in walking calmly and quietly in the direction of the supposed
quarry, or in a direction which you consider is favorable to your purpose. You
have not come to grips with the game yet, but there is no knowing when you may
come to close quarters and so you have to be wary and to take advantage of
rising ground, of dips, of the cover afforded by trees and bushes or the bed of
a stream. Even this requires practice and an eye for ground, so that any casual
observation does not lead you along a wrong line which will suddenly expose you
to the view of everybody and everything within miles.

Secondly, when you are getting within range, your approach must be made still
more cautiously, and it is best to adopt what is usually known as the "upright crouching position."

Upright Crouching Position

This requires practice in lifting the feet and
in balance. For this you should adopt the Backwoodsman's walk. The feet should
point straight forward so as to offer the least resistance to any obstacles that
may be encountered, for if the toes turn out they act as hooks. The knees should
be kept slightly bent and relaxed. The feet should be lifted well off the ground
at every step, and not shuffled along. The ball of the foot should touch the
ground first, followed by the heel. The weight of the body should be placed
gradually on the whole sole of the foot so as to avoid snapping any twig that
may be underneath it. A firm balance should be obtained on each leg in turn
before the other is advanced, so that at any moment, in any place, and in any
position, you can remain poised like a statue and as quiet. At the same time the
arms should be kept still as you move and not be swung violently about. Every
movement should be stealthy, silent and deliberate. In fact, you must put your brain into the
sole of your feet and your eyes into
your toes as you feel your way along.

For practice, indoors or out, such games as "Grandmother's footsteps,"
"Statues," "The Valley of the Blind," "The Blind Pirate" and others will be found useful. Out of doors the
best practice ground is a small wood or coppice which is strewn with dry leaves,
especially beech leaves.

Thirdly, there is the "feline crawl," which is brought into use when the distance between you and your quarry is lessening and when cover is
getting scarce.

The "Feline Crawl."

Any common domestic cat can demonstrate this method to you.
Watch a cat, study its methods and copy them, for the cat is a great stalker.
The hind paw comes automatically up to the position that the corresponding front
paw has occupied. You have to crawl along on hands and knees. The hand feels for
a suitable place on which to rest and the corresponding knee comes up to the
same position. Care should be taken to lift the knee and foot from the ground
and not drag them, but equal care should be exercised so that the feet are not
waved in the air. Care also should be taken not to hump the body up in the
middle, like a camel, but to keep the hindquarters low. The head should be the
highest part, and that too should be kept as low as possible, and certainly not
bobbed up suddenly or jerked from side to side. As before, every movement that
is made should be slow and deliberate.

I must confess that a great deal of my own practice in stalking of this kind
was obtained in playing "hide and seek" amongst the heather, but it
was not particularly a parlor kind of hide and seek that we affected as the
seeker had to secure his quarry before he was caught, and that usually meant a low tackle despite any boulders there might be
about! Apart from that, "Scout Hunting,"
"Stalking the Deer," "Stalking and Reporting"
and other games of a similar nature are all useful in affording practice.

Lastly, there is the "flat crawl," when you are right up with your
quarry. This method is slow and very tiring, especially for the stomach muscles,
or after a heavy meal. This, above all, is the occasion when it is injudicious
to go out in your best Scout kit. You will want an old shirt and pair of shorts
for this game, or the "fighting shirt" which our Danish Scouts
affect.

It is necessary to go down full length on the ground, flat on the stomach,
with the head down. The body and legs should be kept absolutely stiff and the
legs close together. The toes should be turned well out and the heels kept down
so that practically the whole of the inner side of the foot rests upon the
ground. If this is not done consciously, there is a tendency for the feet come
up and attract attention. You now have to work yourself forward, bit by bit, a
few inches only at a time, using the hands and the sides of the feet. This can
be done by placing your forearm flat on the ground in front of your head and by
bringing the other forearm up in front of it, and so on, the toes being used as
levers on which to work. Instead of using the forearms it is possible to move
forward by placing the hands on the ground close to, almost under, the body on a
level with the chest, and to pull yourself forward with them. Care should be
taken to keep the elbows well down and close to the sides.

If it is safe to expose the head sufficiently to look round, then it is
possible to do the flat crawl rather more on the side than on the stomach, and to bend the knees sideways and
bring them up to help. Your movements then will be something of a cross between
a " feline crawl " and a " flat crawl."

The "Feline Flat Crawl."

Frequently you find that when you are stalking you suddenly, even when you
are going dead slow, burst out of cover, and are liable to be spotted. In that
case there is frequently only one thing to do. You must "freeze"
instantaneously, and when the opportunity offers slowly and carefully work back
to cover again, remembering that any sudden movement is liable to give you away.

To draw away under these circumstances, it is best to crawl backwards,
keeping your body and legs absolutely stiff, and levering yourself back with
your toes and hands working together. At the same time your face and head should
be kept close to the ground and steady. Even when you are back in cover again,
be very cautious indeed about raising your head to get a look round.

And now a word or two in regard to "freezing." It is not
absolutely necessary that you should be behind something in order to remain
unobserved. If there is a suitable background it is possible, as I have already
said, to assume a position right out in the open without any very great danger
of being noticed, provided you keep your body, limbs, and especially your head
absolutely still. This also needs a good deal of practice at odd moments
wherever, and in whatever position, you happen to be. Whatever method of
stalking you are utilizing, you should have trained yourself to be instantly
still and motionless for a considerable period exactly in the position you
happen to be whenever there is the slightest alarm.

In The Drama of the Forests, Arthur Heming tells of his travels in the far north of Canada and of the skilled woodcraft he
learned from Oo-Koo-Hoo, a mighty hunter. Here is an example of Oo-Koo-Hoo's
teaching in regard to freezing"

" I should not only remain motionless while the animal was gazing toward
me, but I should assume at once some form that suggested the character of the
surrounding trees or bushes or rocks. For example, among straight-boled,
perfectly vertical trees I should stand upright, among uprooted trees I should
assume the character of an overturned stump, by standing with inclined body, bent
legs, and arms and fingers thrust out at such angles as to suggest the roots of
a fallen tree.

And he added that if I doubted the wisdom of such an act, I should test it at
a distance of fifty or one hundred paces, and prove the difficulty of detecting a man who assumed a
characteristic landscape pose among trees or rocks."

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Old School Scouting:
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